...but as a symptom - currently on display at CEPA Gallery, Buffalo. The exhibition is open till April 12, 2025.

is an ongoing series of photographs exploring the difficulties of traumatic processing. Hand-traced texts, unnamed landscapes, close-up manipulated paper and transparencies alongside performative gestures are captured by my lens. themes of doubt, blame, trust and manipulation echo throughout with words such as "sorry you got hurt" "misunderstanding" and "misconstruction" build a tense narrative with a minimalist visual. The works function both as wall pieces and as an artist book.

The title of the work is borrowed from the psychology book "Trauma and Recovery" by Judith Miller Herman. In the book's introduction page, Herman explains the unique nature of trauma in its aftermath. There is a conflict between "the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud". Stories are told in a "highly emotional, contradictory, and fragmented manner" - as people struggle to communicate coherently. Instead, "secrecy prevails and the story of the traumatic event surfaces not as a verbal narrative but as a symptom".

RONI AVIV

RONI AVIV